Chi training

Shen Ying was born at noon in summer, the sun was high and the air was humid. On the way from Tianfu Palace to the hospital, Shen Huaisu encountered a burst of sun and rain. When he arrived at the hospital, he didn't stay for long, and left a name for Shen Ying. He glanced at him through the glass and left.Surrounded by five sister-in-laws, her mother, Mei Jia, took a photo with Shen Ying in her arms—this photo is now hanging high in Mei Jia’s bedroom, and it is as numerous as Shen Ying’s full moon photos, hundred-day photos, birthday photos, etc. Countless photos of various ages and costumes adorn the entire wall.

The Shen family is a big family, the grandparents were in business, and in Shen Huaisu's generation, most of the relatives have moved to Nanyang, Europe and the United States.Shen Huaisu went to Singapore with his parents when he was ten years old. From the old photos, he was a pale, thin and small man. When taking pictures, he always frowned, his lips were pursed, his chin was slightly set back, and he was a little hunchbacked. His eyes are timid and timid, and he looks very shy. In his primary school graduation photo, he had to look carefully one by one to pick out Shen Huaisu, who looks like bean sprouts, among the group of tall and burly white children; Shen Huaisu turned his head, and because of playing basketball, tennis, horse riding, and surfing, he tanned a lot, his arms and legs grew beautiful and firm muscles, his chest became broad and thick, and his black eyes were blown by the sea breeze in the South Seas. Moist and soft, when taking pictures shoulder to shoulder with young ghosts and ghost sisters, he always smiles and shows a row of white teeth, just like a warm and cheerful Chinese boy; when he was in college, he took few photos He laughed less, and the self-confidence he cultivated in his youth was still there, but it became gloomy. Shen Huaisu's third sister blamed it on a woman who was much older than Shen Huaisu, and was invited by his family to speak French. Teacher, that woman did not know how to behave. She seduced a young man with strong hormones, and then abandoned him. She was going to marry a diplomat. She was Shen Huaisu's first love, and she hurt him deeply. , no longer trusting anyone, questioning any good intentions, causing him to have a strong feeling of revenge - he asked the third sister for help, and he wanted to destroy the relationship between the tutor and the diplomat.

Shen Huaisu's five elder sisters doted on him very much. For the youngest brother, the third sister became the diplomat's lover without hesitation. In the end, she became the diplomat's wife and went to France with him. Now they There are three mixed-race children, a boy and two girls. The boy married his piano teacher not long ago.

The wedding between the third sister and the diplomat was very decent. Shen Huaisu also sent an invitation letter to the tutor. He wrote on the invitation letter: Teacher, I am going to study in France. I want to see you again. You know how much I love you. emotion.

The family classroom dressed up and came to the hotel, and left crying.Shen Huaisu held the arm of the third sister in a white wedding dress and greeted her affectionately in the hotel lobby, watching her embarrassed back gloating.That night, he wrote in his diary, he was struck by such a pleasure for the first time that it was "indescribable," "indefinable," guilt-ridden, and overwhelming.But like all happiness in the world, this intense happiness is not eternal and long-lasting. Instead, because of its intensity, it disappears faster, and the subsequent sense of loss is greater.It seemed that he could no longer find such happiness.

The fifth sister who has the closest relationship with Shen Huaisu often thinks of Shen Huaisu when he was 17 years old. He was going to study in London. He spent a summer that seemed as long as his life. He was full of energy every day and didn’t need to rest at all. He tried his best to entertain himself, playing cards, chess, riding horses, boating, playing games of love, and enjoying physical stimulation. He brought back one beautiful girl after another, but he seemed to be full of confusion about the future, as if a kind of emptiness was taking advantage of him. When he was young, taking advantage of his good looks, rich enough, accumulated enough cultural knowledge, seen everything, tried everything, occupied his life.This kind of emptiness comes from his every move, from the kisses he gives to every girl, and even the eyes of every boy. He probably understood early on that there is no eternal beauty in the world, and there is no What lasting joy.But Fifth Sister also emphasized that Shen Huaisu did not want to paralyze his nerves because of this. He does not smoke, does not drink alcohol, and refuses to be stimulated by drugs. People will lose all their teeth, their hair will lose their luster, their faces may develop herpes, and the toxicity will affect their offspring. Their children may only have three fingers, one eye, be blind, and be dumb.He couldn't accept such consequences, he was the son of the Shen family, he lived his life in a good and beautiful manner.Naturally, his child must also be beautiful, smart, and attract much attention.He lived an extremely self-disciplined and indulgent life like this, trying to find out what, trying to delve into what—anyway, he couldn't tell at that time.

At the same time, his father, mother, sisters, girlfriends, and close friends are constantly sending him full love. He is like an aloe that has absorbed water, but he can't grow dense branches and leaves. Without producing beautiful flowers, so many nutrients have nowhere to vent, it can only fill up his body more and more, and can only randomly draw out many side branches.Life depends on water, and bacteria also need water. Therefore, in such a nutrient solution, Shen Huaisu breeds arrogance, self-willedness, paranoia, moodiness, and a completely self-centered bad temper.Of course, these character flaws, in the eyes of his third sister, are still the fault of the governess: a wrongly paid love is likely to ruin a young man's life.

When Shen Huaisu was in England, a girl committed suicide in front of his apartment.Shen Huaisu didn't take it seriously, and it was his family who came forward to deal with the follow-up. His mother and father said that Huai Su's studies abroad were bad, and he couldn't stay any longer. No matter what method he used, he had to come back anyway.So after Shen Huaisu graduated from university, after several twists and turns, he finally returned to Singapore to continue his studies.

What Shen Huaisu studied is an ancient, dead language, no one has used it for a long time, because of the tutor, he became fascinated with the language, and in the process of studying at the university, he became more and more convinced that the more he used it, the more he used it. It is frequent that the more language is corroded by modern life, the more difficult it is to see the origin of language. He also believes that language is a tool for moral judgment. He often recalls that the tutor heard him and her say "Hello" in the magnificent hotel lobby. He believed that if they just looked at each other and neither of them spoke, no matter how fake a smile or triumphant expression he had on his face, he would not Goodbye to that complex expression.

Eyes can escape, but voice, can become a spell.

The murals of Tianfu Palace came into Shen Huaisu's life when he was fascinated by language.

It was at a dinner party. Lu Mingyou, a friend of Shen Huaisu who studied folklore, went to Yusong to collect folk customs. He took a few photos and showed them to everyone.The photos have no photography skills at all, and because of the dim light, the imaging is not ideal, but perhaps it is precisely because of their blur and clarity that they appear more mysterious and alluring.

The photos in the photo are the murals in the dark room of Tianfu Palace.

Shen Huaisu described those photos to people more than once, and he even got copies, and even got the original film.He used a slide machine to look at the pictures over and over and over again.

The murals are not detailed, and the content is nothing unusual. They are nothing more than white bones rolled up by the current, a wrecked boat sunk underwater, flames in the water, twisted and painful women, struggling skeletons, a snake, and a dragon. , wrestled together, and a man with very long hair, painted black around his eyes, and even darker eyes.On the top of the bones, the top of the sunken boat, the flames and around the woman are painted with red patterns like snakes. Lu Mingyou said that this is an old local saying, which has been lost for a long time, and no one can understand it, but when offering sacrifices, The elders who preside over the sacrifice will paint them on people according to the gourd painting.

Shen Huaisu asked him, "Who painted these murals?"

There is no signature on the mural, and according to Lu Mingyou's guess, it belongs to the style of the Sui Dynasty.

"Sui Dynasty?"

"End of a chaotic dynasty."

"A very brief period."

He asked again, "Who is this man?"

"This is a god believed in by the local people. It is said that a red snake became a spirit after cultivation, and then he became a fairy after doing a lot of good deeds. The sacrifice in September is held every year to thank him for the good deeds he has done. It is said that he will come here in the past Thousands of people beat gongs and drums, sang and danced, and it was very lively."

Lu Mingyou said again: "Unfortunately, there are not many people participating in the sacrifice now, and the murals are also invisible in many places due to improper maintenance. The jade pine is too humid. If you are interested, you can go and see it with our team next time. , we are helping the local area restore murals.”

Soon, Shen Huaisu went to Yusong with Lu Mingyou as a language researcher.

But when we arrived at Yusong, firstly, the climate was not acclimatized, and secondly, we visited the dark room full of murals day and night, Shen Huaisu fell ill and was admitted to the hospital, he was in a daze, almost in a semi-comatose state, Lu Mingyou hurried After contacting his family, Shen Huaisu's three older sisters arrived and brought him back to Singapore.But when he returned home, Shen Huaisu's condition did not improve, and he wanted to go back to Yusong again, especially when the festival was approaching, he thought more and more, but his body was unable to support him, so he lost his temper at home, smashed the mirror, Smashing the clock, everything that can show his haggard appearance, everything that can tell the time makes him hate, he hates it so much, the tired body drags down the spirit, his whole body is teetering on some kind of edge, really at home A fire was set, which frightened the whole family. The mother cried and said that Huai Su's soul had been lost, and it had to be summoned.My father heard that a great mage in Thailand was very powerful, but he lived in seclusion in the mountains for a long time. He didn't care about world affairs. To show his sincerity, his father flew to Chiang Rai himself to invite the mage to come out of the mountain. Unexpectedly, the plane crashed, his father died, and his mother heard the bad news, and the grief was unbearable , actually went with his father, and the eldest sister had to preside over the overall situation at home.During that time, the entire Shen family was shrouded in a terrifying atmosphere. Mentioning Yusong seemed to have seen a ghost, and she couldn’t avoid it. The Thai mage could not be invited, so the eldest sister found the most famous Zen master in the local area, every day. Copy scriptures and chant Buddhist scriptures at home, hired many helpers, took care of Shen Huaisu closely, even refused to let him out of the room.Shen Huaisu was weak and wanted to resist, but he had more energy than strength. After the first seven years of his father and mother, after another half a year, after no less than five pagodas were built under the Shen family name, Shen Huaisu seemed to have forgotten about Yusong Erjing, let’s not talk about it, let’s not talk about it, his health gradually improved. In 85, he ran into Lu Mingyou in Kuala Lumpur and learned that Tianfu Palace had collapsed. Shen Huaisu went home immediately, took a lot of cash, and returned to Yu Song took root here, and soon married Mei Jian, the only daughter of Mr. Mei, who had always been in business with the family.

Mei Jian is not tall and has a small frame. She practiced ballet when she was a child, walks with wind, and often looks at people from the corner of her eyes.The Shen family believed that Mei Jia was a "suitable", "proper", and "could dress up" daughter-in-law.Mei Jian, on the other hand, believes that this marriage is "an investment" for her.It seems that no one asked Shen Huaisu's opinion, he didn't say "no", and the matter was settled.

The following year, Shen Ying was born.

Shen Huaisu claims to be a "miscellaneous expert" who knows a little about archaeology, folklore, and architecture, but she can't name a name for child rearing, and she doesn't have much interest in it. The children are all taken care of by Mei Jia and the nanny. After marriage, she lived in a small courtyard with a single family in Yusong City. The environment was beautiful, but it was inconvenient to go to and from Tianfu Palace every day. Soon Shen Huaisu moved to Tianfu Palace, and occasionally invited some folklorist friends to visit the murals in the palace. , traveling in Qiongling, I only came back home once in ten and a half months, and every time I went home, I was in a hurry, packed some clothes and left again. Later, Shen Huaisu hardly stepped into the house, and all his thoughts were devoted to finding the legendary general’s hidden treasure. According to the cave murals, he can dive himself, and he found a few other geologists to form a team. He heard that the murals in the General’s Treasure Cave were even older, and existed before humans could speak.He wants to take a look.

Mei Jian also made an emotional investment in Shen Huaisu. When Shen Ying was five or six months old, she took Shen Ying to Tianfu Palace, but she couldn't stand it after staying for one night. It was the wet season in the mountains. , Thunder and rain at night, many mosquitoes, the noise of the rain made her unable to sleep, Mei Jia got up in the middle of the night, shook Shen Ying's little bed, Shen Ying fell asleep, quiet and motionless.A thunderbolt struck, and the white light made Shen Ying's face pale and gloomy. Mei Jia's heart skipped a beat, she touched the child's breath, and pressed his heart.Shen Ying's breathing was calm and her heart was beating slowly.Mei Jian looked out, put on her coat and went to look for Shen Huaisu.

Mei Jian and Shen Ying slept in a side room in the same courtyard as the main hall, and when she left the room, she went to the main hall, turning on the lights as she walked.There was no one else in Tianfu Palace, it was raining and the world was full of noise.

The entire corridor was wet, Mei Jian was wearing slippers, and the insteps of her feet became wet immediately, and the soles of her feet became colder and colder as she walked.

After entering the main hall, Mei Jia first called to Shen Huaisu, but her call was immediately absorbed, without even giving her an echo.Mei Jian raised her head and saw God Lord Chi Lian.

Shenjun has gentle eyebrows, a plain and generous face, the corners of his mouth are slightly raised, and there is a slight smile, which seems to be familiar.The casting mold of Shenjun is probably that of Avalokitesvara, but Shenjun's hair is black and thick, and the rough wood carving makes them look like snakes hanging on his shoulders one after another.

He is like Medusa in Western mythology.

Medusa in this man's figure lowered her eyes and stared at her toes. At his feet was an altar, on which were some melons and fruits and an incense burner.A few sticks of incense burn quietly and faintly.

Mei Jian put on her coat and walked around behind the statue of Shenjun. She knew that the dark room with murals was there, and it was the place where Shen Huaisu worked, ate, rested, passed the time, and meditated.

Mei Jian pushed open the door and went in. She first saw the back of a person sitting cross-legged on the ground, and then there was another thunder, and several black shadows slapped on the wall. It went out again in an instant.

Mei Yan walked out.

She remembered that Shen Huaisu looked back at her, but she couldn't remember the subtext in that look, maybe he looked at her without any emotion at all, or maybe he didn't look at her at all.

Mei Jia went back to the side room, Shen Ying woke up, she stretched out her finger to tease him, Shen Ying looked at her, but ignored her.That was the first time she realized how similar Shen Ying and Shen Huaisu were.When they look at people, their eyes are bright, but their eyes are empty.

Shen Ying is a quiet child, neither making noise, nor crying.He didn't cry once when he was born, and he just coughed when the midwife doctor spanked him.At first, the five sisters-in-law were all talking about Mei Ji's good life and good fortune, Shen Huaisu was not picky, gave birth to a son, and the son was so easy to take care of, but after half a year, they became ants on the hot pot. They gathered from all corners of the country again, carrying big bags and small bags and living in Shen's house, each with their own secret recipes, and kept giving advice to Mei Jia.It's not a solution if the child doesn't cry, he doesn't even know how to be kind, and he doesn't have his own opinions and opinions on what to eat and what to use.

The eldest aunt said that she must eat seven jujubes every day so that she could speak early. The second aunt invited a mage to call her soul. The mage said that Shen Ying was reincarnated and her body arrived, but her soul was still on the other side of the Naihe Bridge, lost her way, and spent days and nights Call him at night, call him back, eat incense ashes, apply holy oil, soak in holy water, pray, copy scriptures, descendants of Meng Po, Zen Master Jinpeng, Taoist nun Miaofa, Huang Daxian, Master Li, priest Qu, expert on constellations , sales of health care products, and people from all walks of life came to Shen’s house to have a bite to eat. That was the busiest time for Shen’s house. People were everywhere from the living room to the kitchen. , burning paper money, the boxwood tree at the gate was cut down and planted again, the pool behind the yard was dug up and then filled up, filled up and dug up again, the elder aunt and the second aunt bought carp to release in the Dadu River every day, and the fourth aunt even He also paid homage to God Chilian and wiped his statue every night. Even Shen Huaisu was forced to go home and drink a bowl of jujube water every week.

Such tossing until Shen Ying was two years old, he still didn't open his mouth, didn't speak, but he had already learned to walk, learned to build building blocks, learned to stare at people's eyes, but he just looked at people fixedly, as if he didn't care about anything. I know, I can see everything, but he has nothing to say.

No master knew where his soul went, and no doctor could analyze why. There was nothing wrong with his vocal cords, nor was there anything wrong with his brain.

The aunt persuaded Mei Jian: "Otherwise, let's have another one."

Mei Jian pulled Shen Ying into her arms, wiped her eyes, and the three aunts and six wives whispered to each other and sighed.

"It's also pathetic."

"It's fate, too."

"Oh, Xiaomei, don't be too sad. You feel sorry for him, and everyone understands you. If there is another one, I'm afraid it won't be such a treasure, and it's not good for children."

The third aunt asked Shen Huaisu: "What's your idea?"

Shen Huaisu looked at Shen Ying, and Shen Ying just looked up at him, father and son eye to eye.The second aunt said with a smile: "If you can let him call you Dad, I will obey you."

Shen Huaisu didn't study murals anymore, and he didn't look for murals anymore. He regarded his children as the biggest subject. One was three years old. He didn't cry, make noise, or say a word. He didn't seem to have feelings for anyone or anything. A child who may not have a soul in a body.

Shen Ying was three years old that year, and only then did she get some attention from her father.

Xiao Ai has an elegant name, but no one can tell what that name is. Moreover, when Xiao Ai introduced himself to others, he just said: "Hello, I am Xiao Ai." His name is Xiao Ai.

Xiao Ai has a twin sister named Ai Xin. When the doctor cut the siblings out of the stomach of their mother Wang Yunmei, Xiao Ai cried loudly. Ai Xin curled up beside him without making a sound. When it came out, it looked like a miniature, livid, dead Xiao Ai.Ai Xin was immediately sent to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Wang Yunmei often said in Xiao Ai's ear: "Brother, it's because you ate up all the nutrition in your mother's stomach and didn't give any of it to your sister, which caused her to become like this."

Ai Xin's brain is not fully developed, and she can't tell the difference from other children when she is lying in the swaddle. When she grows up, when she learns to walk and talk, her difference will be obvious.She is what everyone calls an imbecile, mentally retarded, with a silly look in people's eyes, and she can't speak clearly or understand anything, but Ai Xin is very beautiful, with an oval face, big eyes, and long eyelashes, just like her mother.As for Xiao Ai, she looks like her father, her eyes are like her grandpa's, and she is a bit fierce.

Xiao Ai's father, Ai Hongshan, originally owned a piece of land in Chilianzhai. Because he was fond of gambling, he sold the land long ago to pay off his gambling debts. Contributed to the poker table. After a pair of children were born, the elders in the village specially found him a part-time job near the village. At that time, Qiongling Qianshan had just started to be developed and needed a lot of workers. Many young and middle-aged men in Chilian Village were sold there. The labor force eats and sleeps on the construction site, gets paid once a week, and can go home once a week.With the supervision of the villagers, the concern of the children and the family, plus more than ten hours of hard work a day, people start to feel sleepy as soon as they sit down. No one has the spare energy to think about playing cards and dice. Ai Hongshan seems to have restrained himself a lot. Every week when the construction site takes half a day off, he will bring some fruits and snacks home to visit his wife and children.Xiao Ai will crawl on the ground, Ai Xin is very clingy, she will cry when there is no one around her, Wang Yunmei has lost a lot of weight, she sometimes coaxes Ai Xin, and she sheds tears. She would go over to touch her mother's arm and touch Ai Xin's little hand, Wang Yunmei sobbed harder, but Ai Xin would calm down.When she is quiet, she is more beautiful and cute than any child Ai Hongshan has ever seen.

Ai Hongshan wants to make money, a lot of money. He doesn't read much, but he knows that a problem like Ai Xin will require a lot of money in the future.

After a while, a group of loan sharks rushed into Ai's house, and Ai Hongshan went to gamble again. This time, he followed someone else's black car down the mountain and entered an underground casino in Yusong City. After losing thirteen thousand, Wang Yunmei took her All the jewelry and savings were taken out, the usury vented his anger, and he was about to leave after arresting Xiao Ai and Ai Xin. It was still everyone in the village who helped to clear the debt.Everyone went to the construction site to look for Ai Hongshan again. When the foreman heard Ai Hongshan's name, he became very angry and asked them to pay back the money.It turned out that Ai Hongshan secretly drove away a truck full of steel bars early that morning.When the news was sent back to Ai's house, Wang Yunmei passed out.

Wang Yunmei is from Yusong City, and her parents are both teachers. She eloped from home and married Ai Hongshan. Although life is hard, but she can't bear this face or swallow this breath when she is asked to return to her natal home. She believes that Ai Hongshan will come back, and she also believes that this man will change for her. She believes that he is not bad in nature, and that he went to gamble for this family.She wanted to believe that she hadn't misjudged or followed the wrong person back then.

About half a year later, on a moonless night, Ai Hongshan rolled into her yard in disgrace. Xiao Ai woke up from the dream when she heard the noise. Wang Yunmei jumped out of bed and shouted loudly: "Catch the thief! Catch the thief!" He took a broom and rushed into the yard to beat up the "uninvited guest".

Ai Hongshan jumped up and down, yelling: "It's me, it's me! Stop hitting! Stop hitting!"

Wang Yunmei fought harder, gnashing her teeth: "It was you who hit! It was you!"

"Skinless and shameless bastard! Killing a thousand knives! Bah! I bah!"

Wang Yunmei's voice gradually took on a weeping tone. The courtyard was lit with fire, and the neighbors came over with flashlights and candles.Ai Xin also woke up at this time, she stretched out her small arms on the bed, and shouted "Ai, Ai", Xiao Ai went to pat her arm lightly, caressed her shoulder, and kissed her hair, just like her mother When Ai Xin loses her temper, she always does the same thing.

Ai Xin looked at Xiao Ai and smiled, grabbed Xiao Ai's fingers and put them in her mouth, gnawing and biting.She likes to be close to Xiao Ai, and likes to nibble on his hand like this. The mother said that she was stupid, thinking of her brother's fingers as little things for grinding her teeth.

Xiao Ai looked out of the window again, and the lights completely reflected Ai Hongshan's appearance. He was sitting on the ground with his mouth open, Wang Yunmei's back was facing him, and he was tightly holding the long bamboo handle of the broom.The ground is a large area of ​​fiery red and a large area of ​​jet black, and everyone's faces are also red, black, and mottled.Ai Xin bit Xiao Ai hard, Xiao Ai gasped, turned her head and gave Ai Xin a look, Ai Xin clapped her hands and giggled.

Wang Yunmei didn't give Ai Hongshan a good face when she came home. She didn't like what Ai Hongshan did. Walking around with arms crossed, going up the mountain to touch the herbal medicine is not pleasing to the eye, scolding at every turn, and hitting people when scolding gets hot, but out of guilt, Ai Hongshan never speaks back, always smiles, with a bad temper Very good, with a very gentle look, he endured until she was tired of scolding, at this time, he would stroke Wang Yunmei's back, stroke her hair, hug her shoulders close, and talk to her Hidden together behind a curtain.Xiao Ai watched from the side, but she didn't understand why her mother, who had been aggressive before, lost her temper all of a sudden, and softened into a puddle of water. She was pressed down by her father with a blushing face, looking reluctant , very wronged, frowning in pain, but his arms and legs wrapped his father tightly, as if he was extremely happy and enjoying himself.Can suffering also give people happiness?

Ai Hongshan does not have a stable job. When the farming is busy, he and Wang Yunmei will help other people’s homes plant seedlings and pick tea leaves. When the farming is slack, Wang Yunmei will work in a small restaurant in Taoyuan Village. It is much more lively than Chilian Village.There is a Dadu River and two hills between the two villages. Wang Yunmei wakes up at three o'clock in the morning and takes a ferry to the opposite bank with her fellow villagers. She doesn't get home until late at night.Ai Hongshan took care of the children at home, so she didn't want to gamble, but she didn't intend to go out to find a job, so Wang Yunmei got angry with him again. 100 or [-] efforts?When Xiao Ai was playing with the children in the village, she was pointed at her nose and scolded as a "gambling son" by some children, and forced him to pay back the money.Ai Hongshan slicked her tongue, coaxing her and said: "It's okay, it's okay, they will pay me an appearance fee when the Snake King sacrifice is held, then I will be cleared with them."

Xiao Ai has never been to the sacrifice of Tianfu Palace. I heard from my mother that the sacrifice was very lively in the past. People from many villages in the front and back mountains would come to participate. Later, Tianfu Palace was bought by a rich man and was closed to the public. Yes, only the elders and fathers of each village will go to the sacrifice every year, saying that the sacrifice has become a private performance and will no longer be made public.

Xiao Ai is confused, his father is not an elder, why can his father go?

The mother told Xiao Ai: "Your father played the role of the Chilian Snake King at the sacrifice, very majestic."

My father told Xiao Ai: "At that time, your grandma, a college student, didn't go shopping or study in the library during the holidays. She came to Qiongling to play and watch the Snake King Festival. She came to meet me."

My father also said to Xiao Ai: "In the future, it will be your turn to play the role of the god. The god must not be afraid of snakes. He must drink snake gall wine and swallow the snake gall no matter how bitter it is. Very dark eye circles, like a giant panda, do you know what a giant panda is?"

Xiao Ai nodded. He has an animal picture book, which his mother bought for him in the grocery store in Taoyuanzhai. It is used to teach him to read and learn.Giant pandas are only black and white. Giant pandas used to eat meat and were beasts. Now they are national treasures and eat bamboo.

Father would take the animal picture book and Xiao Ai into the mountains.Xiao Ai was young and agile. He climbed the mountain like a little monkey, and rushed to the front. His father put Ai Xin into a bamboo basket lined with a lot of cotton cloth, carried it in front of him, and held a short handle. Hoe walked behind Xiao Ai.A magpie flew out of the woods, and his father called Xiao Ai to see it. There was a group of butterflies around the Qiong tree, so Xiao Ai went to catch the butterflies. His father asked him, "What kind of butterfly is that?"

"Blue Butterfly!"

"The powder on its wings is poisonous," the father added.Xiao Ai was busy wiping her hands on her clothes, and jumped into the stream to wash her hands desperately.My father yelled: "The people downstream will be poisoned to death by you!"

Xiao Ai was so anxious that she hugged the water into her arms, and her father laughed loudly: "Silly son! That's pollen!"

There are many fruit trees on the mountain, and there is a mulberry tree, which grows very big, with low branches, and the fruit is very sweet. Every time passing by, my father and Xiao Ai would stand under the tree and eat the mulberries with their necks raised. Ai Xin learned They also stretched out their hands from the bamboo basket, grabbed a branch, and tore off a mulberry, but she used too much force, and the mulberry was crushed by her, and the juice splashed on her father's face.The father laughed, picked two mulberries and fed them to Ai Xin.

The tree shadow swayed on Ai Xin's face, and the light pierced into her eyes, making it impossible to see her stupidity or stupidity at all.

My father also taught Xiao Ai to catch snakes. There are only Chilian snakes on Chilian Peak. They like to hide behind stones and in shady places. My father said: "The most important thing about fighting snakes is not to be afraid. You can't lose if you lose!"

Every time they go up the mountain, they can pick a lot of herbs and wild fruits. Sometimes they can catch a snake or two, and sometimes they can only pick up the shed snake skin.Father would take Xiao Ai and Ai Xin to Taoyuan Village, where he would sell the herbs and snake skin to the medicine store in the village, and then go with them to a small restaurant to find his mother.

Mother gave each of them a bowl of Chao Shou.

She also came to eat together, Xiao Ai scooped up a wonton, blew off the hot air on it, took a small bite, then blew off the hot air in the stuffing, and fed it to Ai Xin.Father scooped up one, blew off the heat from above, and fed it to mother.

In Xiaoai's memory, the mahjong parlor in Taoyuanzhai appeared when he was five years old.

He remembers it well.The mahjong parlor was opened next to the restaurant where my mother worked part-time. I chose the one to open on the day of welcoming the God of Wealth during the Spring Festival. My father hugged him to watch the excitement. Firecrackers were set off for a long time in front of the mahjong parlor, and many red lanterns were hung.The smoke from the firecrackers has been lingering, and the red lantern is looming in the smoke.

Father was hooked there.

From then on, there seemed to be a ball of anger burning in my mother's body and eyes forever, and even the rain in the wet season could not quench it.

Once, mother and father got angry, carried Xiao Ai on their backs, and carried Ai Xin to the mahjong hall, and threw them to father without saying a word.It was already late at that time, after ten o'clock in the evening, Xiao Ai was very sleepy, sat next to his father for a while, yawned again and again, couldn't help but tugged at the corner of his father's clothes, and asked him: "Daddy, what should we do?" When can I go home?"

His father was addicted to cards, so he sent Xiao Ai to sleep on the long bench next to her. Xiao Ai was obedient, and took Ai Xin to sit on the bench.Xiao Ai still yawned one after another. He helped his mother break corn and pick beans for a long time in the restaurant during the day. Ask "brother" "brother" to find him, he is like Ai Xin's little nanny, but he can't do anything, no one can do anything, Ai Xin is getting older and harder to coax, but only seeing Xiao Ai will be quiet when she is alone. Even if Xiao Ai does nothing but appear in front of her, she will be happy. If Xiao Ai makes funny faces to tease her, play with her, tell her about pandas, snakes, and butterflies, She clapped her hands happily.

Xiao Ai glanced at Ai Xin, who yelled "Ai, Ai" at him with a bright smile.

Ai Xin is also five years old, and she doesn't know how to call her father or mother very much, and she keeps making "ah" sounds.

Xiao Ai held his head, and yawned a few more times. He seemed to have fallen asleep for a moment in a daze. He rushed forward, opened his eyes, and went to find Ai Xin. Ai Xin sat on the ground at some point. Picking up melon seed husks spit out by others, next to her are pairs of big feet, on top of her head are one thermos after another, cups of full teacups after cups, men after men, women after women are all staring at her. at the poker table.Xiao Ai hurriedly pulled Ai Xin up, helped her to sit back on the bench, but he was so sleepy, he yawned again, squinted, blinked, and Ai Xin fell to the ground again.Xiao Ai was in a hurry, and took Ai Xin to find her father. Ai Hongshan's eyes were red, and she responded vaguely: "Brother, be good, take good care of your sister, soon, soon, leave when you get rid of this bullshit."

The people around him sneered: "Lao Ai, it's unreasonable to leave after playing the cards."

The father smiled and said, "Oh, it's not silly!"

Xiao Ai bit her lip, and went back to the bench. He first let Ai Xin crawl under the bench, then climbed in himself, hugged Ai Xin, hugged her tightly, and hid under the bench.He fell asleep.

Ai Xin was almost suffocated by him.

Mother beat Xiao Ai at the entrance of the mahjong hall, slapped his back and calves with a waving branch, and scolded him: "Just like your father! You can't do anything well!"

"No promise!"

"It's useless!"

"You almost killed your sister!"

"Are you just trying to kill her!"

My father stood smoking a cigarette, but a villager stopped my mother, and my mother sat down on the ground, kicking her feet in the air, tears streaming down her face.

The father led Xiao Ai to the opposite grocery store, and he knocked on the counter: "Here comes a pack of cigarettes."

A woman came out from behind the counter. She was about the same age as her mother. The woman walked around a small table behind the counter. A group of children sat around watching TV, eating snacks, laughing and making noise.The woman glared at them,